Photo: Alex Fraser Bridge

This was a first for me: I had a particular image in mind, waited for the right conditions (a dry night with outflow wind), went out and got exactly what I wanted! Alex Fraser Bridge at Night.

Glanzlichter der Natur 2018

News from the photography side of things: one of my photos was selected in the "Highlights of Nature Photography" contest, one among 87 out of 18,000 submitted images! This contest has been running for many years and each year the winning images are shown in several cities in Germany including in Leipzig. My parents parents visited several of the exhibitions and drew my attention to it.

The 'Findling'-'Foundling' wasn't my favorite among the photos I submitted but apparently resonated with the judges.

Big Island Hawaii

Late February/March we visited the Big Island of Hawaii with friends. We snorkeled with Manta Rays (this time with all the tour boats around - their light displays proofed much more effective than our tiny dive light) and biked/hiked in the rain to the lava flows. We watched big waves crash on the southwest shores and explored the Volcano Park. This was our third visit on the Big Island, which in our opinion has the most variety and the lowest tourist density of the Hawaiian Islands. We were there 4 weeks before the big 2018 lava outbreak which destroyed several hundred houses between March to June and only stopped about 200 meters away from the Bed & Breakfast we stayed at in Pahoa.

2018 lava flows on the Big Island. The red cross is were we stayed.

Big waves!

Life after lava

On the way to fresh lave flows

They are actually behind the lava... not on top ;-)

Manta Rays!

More big waves

Blanket New Years Powder

We started the New Year in the snow again. With the lowest temperature down to -26oC we didn't stay out quite as long as in previous years but still climbed a cumulative elevation gain of 10,000 meters over the week.

Unfortunately, this was our last visit at Blanket Glacier Chalet. Al, the owner, retired and has handed over the business to his son Marty. Since the interest in backcountry/powder skiing increased significantlyover the last several years Marty has many guests who are happy to pay for guiding and catering which almost doubles the price we pay for a self-guided self-catered week. But we are going skiing again, with the same group and at the same time, just at a different location in the Valkyr Mountains near Nakusp.